


i was never going to end up anywhere else (but back with you)

by cywscross



Category: Bleach
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Future Fic, Gen, Ichigo vs. Gotei 13, Rebellion, Scars, UraIchi Prompt Challenge #2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-04 00:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17294174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cywscross/pseuds/cywscross
Summary: Ichigo rules three-quarters of Rukongai already, half of Japan - even if the humans don't know it - is under his protection, and with every passing day, the Gotei loses a little more ground. Kisuke knows which way the winds are blowing even if the government refuses to acknowledge it.That's not why he's here.





	i was never going to end up anywhere else (but back with you)

**Author's Note:**

> For UraIchi Prompt Challenge #2 - **Prompt:** Scar(s)

 

“You gave me power, and then you dropped me into an entire society that hates anything it can’t control. What did you possibly think would happen?”

The cock of his head is almost as animal as it is curious in a completely detached sort of way, and Kisuke has to force himself not to flinch. In front of him, Ichigo either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, more occupied with staring intently at Kisuke as if honestly waiting for an answer. When Kisuke doesn’t give one, the man snorts and stalks back over to the couch he’d been lounging on when Kisuke was first shown in, throwing himself back onto it in a graceful spill of limbs.

“I almost want to ask how you found me,” Ichigo continues, picking up the report he’d been reading earlier and flipping through it with a disinterested eye. “But it’s you so I suppose they were bound to set you on my trail sooner or later, and I know better than to think I could duck you if you were determined.” His grin is a twisted thing, filled with a genuine if dark sort of humour, made a hundred times worse by the prominent scar bisecting it. “Not that it’s gonna do you much good of course. You really shouldn’t have come, Kisuke.”

Kisuke takes a deep measured breath before letting it out just as carefully. He’s had… _months_ to think of what he would say, if ( _when_ ) he finally saw Ichigo again, and yet every last word he’d ever come up with - formal, informal, scripted and unscripted, explanations and apologies and pleas - all desert him now.

All he can say is what comes to mind. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I thought-” And even now, years after he’s come to terms with the fact that the Gotei will never change, _centuries_ after he’d experienced firsthand - over and over - the single-mindedly prejudiced mindset that the government has always had in regards to anything that’s different and beyond their influence, anything that flouts their authority by its very existence because _they didn’t permit it_ , and still, it’s hard for Kisuke to admit, “I thought they would- I thought if they saw how far you’d go to help the friends you’d made amongst the Shinigami, they would be willing to bend. I thought you’d be able to change them.”

He knows, immediately, that he’s said the wrong thing. He doesn’t mean it that way, but even he winces as it comes out, and he’s not at all surprised by the fire in Ichigo’s flashing Hollow-gold eyes.

“So it’s on me then?” Ichigo snarls, an extra ringing rasp in his voice, the report in his hands forgotten and crumpled beyond repair. “Soul Society’s pet hero - _I_ should’ve held their hands and drawn pictures and taught them some _common fucking decency?_ ”

And in that moment, the reiatsu that surges through the room makes even Kisuke stagger, knees buckling before hitting the floor as the crushing weight presses down on his shoulders and steals the breath from his lungs, a visceral reminder of just why the Gotei 13 is so very desperate to end this war.

The longer it goes on, the more territory Ichigo takes, and the more Shinigami fall to Ichigo or his people.

 _We’ll lose if this war lasts for much longer_ , they keep saying, over and over.

 _You’ve already lost_ , Kisuke never says, only ever watching with a mix of pity and soul-deep vindication.

And then the choking miasma of reiatsu lifts and disappears again as abruptly as it first appeared, leaving Kisuke gasping on the floor, sweat beading his forehead even as his hands twitch for the Zanpakutou he was forced to leave outside. The deceptively innocuous bracelets around his wrists chafe more than ever too as he reaches instinctively for his reiatsu and can barely even feel it. But that was one of the stipulations of being let in to see Ichigo at all, and Kisuke at least approved their caution even if it’s uncomfortable at best to wear them.

He curls his hands into fists instead and focuses on catching his breath and not making an even bigger fool of himself by face-planting on the ground or something equally embarrassing.

By the time he’s able to raise his head again, Ichigo has sat up and leaned forward to balance his elbows on his thighs. He’s wearing a yukata, plainly designed and loose enough to leave his throat bare, nothing like a surrender and everything like a taunt to the world and those who still wish to put him down just because of what he is.

Kisuke stays on his knees. It seems the wiser course of action, and any pride he had left died a swift death the day Ichigo looked at him like Kisuke had personally cut his heart out.

“That was not what I meant,” He says hoarsely. “You are… charismatic, Ichi- Kurosaki-san.” He sweeps out a hand at their general surroundings, the newest base out of _dozens_ all across Rukongai, outfitted with more security measures than even Kisuke’s been able to bypass, let alone Kurotsuchi or anyone else in the Gotei, and every last bit of it was constructed by Kuukaku and Ganju, the formidable inventive brilliance of the Shiba Clan alive again under Ichigo’s command.

(People used to praise Shiba Kaien for his genius. They forgot, to a man, that the Shiba Clan as a whole has always been more than a bit terrifying all around.)

“People flock to you, _believe_ in you, fight for you,” Kisuke continues. “Everything you’ve built in the past two years is proof enough of that. I just thought that Soul Society too would change for you.”

For a long simmering moment of deadly assessment, Ichigo simply stares long and hard at him, his Hollow peering out from behind his eyes, the shadows around him rippling just a little like living black flames. And then, abruptly, he relaxes again, leaning back with a scoff, one hand propping his head up as he reclines against one arm of the sofa.

“I can’t tell if it’s just because you were a Gotei officer for way too long or if you’ve always been this optimistic and I somehow missed it, but newsflash, you can’t change people who don’t want to change, and I’m pretty sure Central 46 and the Gotei have given plenty of evidence that they won’t tolerate anything that might challenge their authority.”

Kisuke winces just a little and nods. Maybe it _was_ because he had been part of the Gotei, once, and lingering loyalties, lingering _dogma_ , remained tethered in his mind even when he thought he’d cut all ties. After all, once upon a time, he’d taken his orders without question, and he’d thought their government could do no wrong. It grates, but blind obedience is perhaps a habit harder to break than he’d originally thought.

“I’m sorry,” He says, because it’s all he _can_ say, and because whatever else he’s forgotten, that remains, an apology he’s wanted to give since the moment he was given cause to regret once again.

(It feels, sometimes, as if all he ever _can_ do is apologize when it comes to Ichigo.)

And once, Ichigo would’ve forgiven him as easy as breathing. Kisuke marvelled at it then, at Ichigo’s capacity for it, and was all the more determined to be _better_ , to live up to the faith Ichigo had inexplicably developed for him, but maybe - after Rukia and Aizen and even those seventeen months of cold silence and an unwelcome door - maybe Kisuke started taking it for granted after all.

No such forgiveness comes now, and Kisuke wasn’t expecting it, not after the latest clusterfuck that’s two years running now, but some part of him crumbles anyway, disappointed, but only in himself.

Instead, Ichigo rolls his eyes and tosses the report back onto the coffee table like he knows he’s not going to be getting any work done with Kisuke in the room. “A little too late for that, don’t you think? Is that seriously what you came here to do? Apologize?” He levels a sardonically amused sort of derision at Kisuke. “Apologies don’t solve anything. They’re just words. What’s done is done.”

He pauses, and the flash of teeth he directs at Kisuke next is less a grin and more an expression of furious mockery, and the scar carved across his face only emphasizes it. “Besides, you don’t have anything to be sorry about this time. I was the one who wasn’t expecting it. Which was really dumb, I know. But that’s completely on me this time, not you.”

Kisuke almost flinches at that, and only centuries of conditioning allows him to curb the reaction. “Kurosaki-san, that’s not-”

Ichigo flicks a hand, and Kisuke falls silent.

“I didn’t let you in here so we could argue about it,” Ichigo says, and while there’s still a lazy sort of smile tilting his lips, his eyes have sharpened to something far less tolerant. “If that _is_ all you’re here for, well, you’ve wasted a trip, and I hate to break this to you but-”

A brisk knock sounds at the door. Ichigo breaks off and looks over. Kisuke does not.

“Yeah?” Ichigo calls, and a moment later, the door slides open in response.

Kisuke doesn’t quite turn his head, but the entrance lurks just at the edge of his peripheral, and even without a line of sight, he’s known Kuchiki Rukia long enough that he wouldn’t have needed it to identify her.

The crisp chill of her reiatsu creeps into the room as she steps inside. She must have come straight from battle because her hair is still streaked with white, and every step she takes leaves dendrites of frost in her wake. She casts a cool look at Kisuke but otherwise ignores him in favour of Ichigo, standing more stiffly than strictly necessary but also arching an eyebrow that speaks volumes, a dichotomy of subordinate and friend that slots together effortlessly.

“Mission went well?” Ichigo asks, although he doesn’t seem particularly concerned.

“Obviously,” Rukia retorts, and then slightly more formally, she reports, “Lisa got knifed in the leg so she’s in Medical with Hanatarou, but she looked more annoyed than in pain when I dropped her off. Otherwise, no injuries, and-” A satisfied smile flits across her face. “-we stopped the assassins before any casualties happened. I left a patrol in the area just in case the Gotei are planning to send a second group in, but I don’t really expect any further trouble today.”

Ichigo nods. “Alright, thanks. Get some rest. I think Yuzu’s planning a big spread for dinner tonight since the new shipment of supplies just came in, so don’t eat too much before then.”

Rukia brightens. “Oh good. I like the Italian dishes she’s been experimenting with recently.” She nods once, salute and farewell all in one, before turning for the door again. “See you at dinner then.”

And then she’s gone without another glance at Kisuke, and the door slides shut again behind her.

“...Kuchiki-taichou would be glad to know his sister is doing well,” Kisuke offers when it doesn’t seem as if Ichigo is going to pick back up from when they were interrupted.

Ichigo shrugs even as he studies Kisuke with growing suspicion. “I mean, she froze Ryuujin Jakka’s flames that one time the old man managed to ambush us, and Byakuya was there, so I’d say he knows full well she’s doing great.”

Well that’s true enough. Kuchiki Rukia has not been quiet. When Ichigo first walked away and officially declared war on the central power of Soul Society, he took what seemed like half the Gotei with him out the door, and of course, Rukia was right there with him, and she was seen in almost every smaller skirmish and larger turf battle that broke out - one by one - as each district of Rukongai was claimed and folded under Ichigo’s rule.

And a year and a half into the war when even Yamamoto finally took to the battlefield, coming down on one of Ichigo’s bases that the Shinigami managed to locate like the war hammer of a god, Rukia had been there for that confrontation too, and she’d ended up freezing not only Ryuujin Jakka’s flames but also Yamamoto’s remaining arm, giving both the base’s occupants and the civilians in the vicinity just enough time to flee.

She’d fainted after that from the sheer drain of going up against the Soutaichou, and Ichigo had arrived just in time with backup to fend off the Gotei because even without a Zanpakutou, Yamamoto could never be called harmless. But nobody who had seen her in action that day could consider Kuchiki Rukia anything less than a threat.

But that’s not quite what Kisuke means, and Ichigo seems to understand that, if the way his eyes narrow is anything to go by.

Kuchiki Byakuya had been one of the few that some of the higher-ups had worried would also desert but _hadn’t_. Instead, he’d denounced his sister, stuck by his clan pride, and looked so foreboding whenever she was even mentioned that no one dared bring her up unless it was absolutely necessary.

And yet.

It took a while for the Shinigami to notice, and even longer for them to admit it, but eventually, they did realize that Ichigo and his people almost always seemed to know when they were coming or where they were going to hit before they got there.

Plainly put, they had moles, and good enough moles that the Gotei had no real way to root them out.

But, well. To Kisuke at least, it had always been pretty easy to guess which ones were secretly reporting back to Ichigo.

“Was she stopping the latest attack on Naruki City?” Kisuke enquires mildly. Not counting him ( _because - quite conveniently - nobody ever counts him_ ), only Central 46, the Soutaichou, and a handful of captains knew about today’s bait attempt.

Ichigo huffs a breath of laughter. “Yeah, that’s exactly what she was doing, which probably means it’s about time I pull Byakuya. He’s taking too many risks, and that’s not something I thought I’d ever say about him.” A razor-sharp smile cuts across his face. “But hey, even he just about lost his shit when his government decided it was a grand idea to bring the war to the Human world. Attacking innocent humans just to draw me out and hope I’d be distracted enough with running around trying to save everyone that they’d be able to get a lucky hit in - well, they drew me out. Too bad I’m still alive and kicking, aren’t I?” He scowls a little. “If you know about Byakuya though-”

“I wouldn’t say _know_ ,” Kisuke corrects lightly. “Hypothesize would be more accurate.”

“Then you should’ve kept your hypothesis to yourself,” Ichigo growls, rising to his feet and skirting the table to approach Kisuke once more. “Because now there’s definitely no chance of you leaving this place alive.”

“There was a chance before?” Kisuke asks glibly, because he never came here expecting to leave in one breathing piece.

Yoruichi’s probably throwing a fit right about now. Or as much as Yoruichi ever throws fits when Kisuke’s done something she considers completely insane. It’s just that she won’t be following that up by coming after him to yell at him.

He’s picked his side, and it’s not hers. Or maybe she’s picked her side, and it’s not his this time.

“True,” Ichigo concedes. “You were a dead man the moment you came in here. You’re too valuable to the Shinigami for me to just let you go back to them.”

And that. That of all things stings, just a little. “I haven’t helped them,” Kisuke says quietly. “Even when I couldn’t get around their orders, I still misled them, gave them locations several miles off, sabotaged their raids. You can’t possibly believe-” He breaks off, thinks about whether this will get him killed, then mentally dismisses that notion as pointless because he can’t remember a time when he _didn’t_ gamble with his life, “You can’t possibly believe the Gotei would be losing so badly even against your spies and the power at your disposal if I was truly opposing you.”

Ichigo goes very, very still. He stares unblinking down at Kisuke, who stares back up at his greatest creation and waits for his verdict.

“You think pretty highly of yourself,” Ichigo says at last.

Kisuke considers that before shrugging lightly because the true miracle is, “ _You_ think pretty highly of me.”

“Well, I did,” Ichigo agrees, and Kisuke has nothing to say to that.

Ichigo sighs then, and for the first time, some of the background hostility that he’s been wearing like a cloak ever since Kisuke walked in fades. He crouches, and this way, Kisuke doesn’t have to strain as much to look him in the eye. But also too, the scar that runs from collarbone to throat to jaw to cheekbone - slashing a vivid line over his trachea, tearing across the bow of his lips, and finally curving up along his left cheek before ending mere millimetres below his eye - looms that much closer.

“What are you doing here, Kisuke?” Ichigo asks, as direct as he’s always been, with no more patience for games.

“I was going to give you my sword,” Kisuke smiles thinly. “But I’m lacking one to make the gesture properly at the moment. So all I can do is-”

He bows his head and feels the strands of his hair slide aside just enough to bare the back of his neck. He came without his hat, because he doesn’t think there’s a stronger message for Yoruichi than to leave behind her last real gift to him. It leaves him feeling even more uncomfortably vulnerable but he supposes that’s fitting too.

“I am here to swear fealty to you, Kurosaki Ichigo,” Kisuke says, and the oath comes out steady and simple and clear. “My mind, my blade, my research, my life - all I possess is at your disposal.”

A deafening silence follows, only broken when Ichigo twists fluidly to his feet again and demands in tones of sheer disbelief, “Are you _shitting_ me? What, don’t wanna go down with the sinking ship so you’re jumping while you still can?”

“My allegiance hasn’t been to the Gotei in a very long time,” Kisuke replies in a low steely voice. “You _know_ this. But I owe you, and I don’t forget my debts.”

“You owe me nothing,” Ichigo snaps. “The stuff with Rukia, with Aizen, with _me_ , we’ve both made peace with all of that already-”

“Then you should also know that I’m not here for that,” Kisuke interjects, and Ichigo actually barks out a laugh that feels more like a blow.

“What, this?” He points at the striking scar on his face, dark and messily healed because if the Gotei got one thing right, it was killing Inoue Orihime right off the bat, and in the aftermath, Ichigo had obviously not been able to find the time for medical attention until it was too late to do anything to pretty up the resulting scar.

“You owe me nothing,” Ichigo repeats, and even with hard eyes and a mocking tilt to his mouth, he honestly seems to believe it. “I should’ve known better.”

“Ichigo-”

“I attacked Yoruichi-san, after all,” Ichigo continues blithely, gold bleeding into his eyes again, reiatsu fluttering around him. “I shouldn’t have expected anything less.”

“You attacked Suì-Fēng,” Kisuke says sharply, sharper than he intended as he cranes his head back to meet Ichigo’s burning gaze. “Do you think I care at all what happens to her? But Yoruichi-san cut in, and-”

He falters, just for a moment, and the most horrifying five seconds of that day two years ago sears across the back of his eyelids in the time it takes for him to blink once--

_Suì-Fēng with her execution orders from up top, and because Soul Society has never found fault in jumping the gun and kicking off yet another mass-murder if it meant the problem could be solved with blood and more blood._

_But also too, Ichigo, so far out of Suì-Fēng’s league that she’d honestly had no hope of laying a hand on him. She got Inoue though, the element of surprise on her side, and because up until that point, even Ichigo didn’t quite expect the Shinigami to push that far. But it was the last straw, Inoue’s death becoming the one moment in history that would instigate the war that hailed the advent of the end of an era, and it was only natural for Ichigo to respond in a whirl of rippling shadows and surging reiatsu, lunging straight for the Second Division captain who still had her Zanpakutou in Inoue’s shock-stiff back, withdrawing just as the healer is obliterated entirely, with only a Hōmonka and a lingering scream to show she’d ever been there at all._

_And then of course, with Ichigo bearing down on Suì-Fēng with all the rage of a vengeful god, of course Yoruichi would be there, flashing in front of her old protégé like she didn’t deserve every bit of retribution Ichigo planned on meting out._

_It just… all happened so fast. Even Yoruichi didn’t have time to do more than flash in there, between Ichigo and Suì-Fēng, and Ichigo didn’t look like he was going to stop, didn’t look like he even saw anything except Suì-Fēng’s impending head on a platter, so Kisuke…_

He’d acted on instinct. Yoruichi was in danger, he’d leapt to her defense with Benihime in hand, and it was even odds who was more surprised - him or Ichigo - when a bright flash of metal and crimson later, Ichigo was reeling back, eyes wide with shock, face and neck soaked in blood, and for an endless terrible moment, Kisuke was absolutely certain he’d killed him.

He hadn’t meant to retaliate so brutally. He’d only called up a full-powered Kamisori in the first place because Ichigo had Getsuga Tenshou gilding Zangetsu’s edge. In retrospect, he thinks he expected Ichigo’s attack to cancel his own. That way, neither of them would’ve been harmed.

He hadn’t expected Ichigo to see _Kisuke_ and _pull his attack_.

Utter pandemonium had descended after that. Kisuke had almost gotten his head cut off by Shinji of all people, the deluge of arrows Ishida had released from the rear had picked off more than a couple dozen Shinigami within the first ten minutes, and by the end of the day, half of Seireitei was a disaster zone, the Fourth Division was swamped, and the lines in the sand couldn’t have been drawn more clearly.

Ichigo had disappeared, his friends and family had retreated with him, and it honestly isn’t an exaggeration at all when people to this day say that half the Gotei elite had deserted on Ichigo’s heels without so much as a backwards’ glance - all of Central 46’s fears come to pass, but only due to their own paranoid hubris.

Kisuke hadn’t even known if Ichigo was alive or not until three months later when the first swathe of outer Rukongai districts began raising new banners depicting a cloud of heliotrope flowers.

He supposes the one good thing about coming the closest - out of the entire Shinigami faction, and isn’t that just irony for you - to killing Kurosaki Ichigo is that from that nightmare of a day on, no one - save perhaps Yoruichi - ever suspected he was anything but loyal to their side.

And Kisuke hated every minute of it.

“It was an accident,” He says at last, even though the explanation seems terribly inadequate.

Ichigo snorts incredulously. “You almost cut me in half _by accident?_ ”

Kisuke really does flinch this time. He had been relieved when it became clear Ichigo had survived. But he hadn’t known the extent of the damage - _a full-powered energy blast from Benihime at point-blank range up close, and Kisuke still has nightmares about it_ \- and he’d been almost glad for it.

“I couldn’t have blocked your Getsuga Tenshou with anything less,” Kisuke admits. “And you’d proven - when your powers were still a fraction of what they’ve become - that Benihime’s shield couldn’t withstand an attack like that.”

Ichigo stares at him. “What does that have to do with _anything?_ ”

Kisuke’s gaze drops before he drags it up again. “I didn’t know you were going to stop on your own-”

“ _We were friends!_ ” Ichigo shouts, and the fury in his voice bounces around the room, abrupt and loud and ringing in Kisuke’s ears like every self-recriminatory accusation he’s internalized since that day. “Are you an idiot or something?! _Why the fuck wouldn’t I have stopped?!_ ”

Kisuke takes a breath, two. “I didn’t think you had the time. Or the mindset to tell ally from enemy. I miscalculated. I’m sorry.”

For a long minute, Ichigo does not reply. Kisuke stares blankly at the floor and waits.

“I don’t believe you,” Ichigo finally says, voice gone hoarse, and in some distant corner of Kisuke’s mind, he wonders if Benihime did more damage than just scarring. “And I don’t want you here. You’re insane if you think I’m gonna trust you not to stab me in the back the second Yoruichi-san tells you to.”

Kisuke swallows down an instinctive protest, but it would’ve been true - Yoruichi wouldn’t. She takes no part in this war, not for Suì-Fēng, nor for Kisuke. She’s taken her clan, and she’s almost entirely withdrawn behind her compound walls with them. Kisuke is aware that Suì-Fēng goes to visit her sometimes, but whether Yoruichi offers advice or not, he doesn’t know. He hasn’t spoken to her for almost as long as the war’s been going on.

(It isn’t that he blames her. There’s no point blaming her when he can blame himself. But he doesn’t understand why she still protects Suì-Fēng, he’s never understood-- it’s just that now, he won’t tolerate it anymore.

In the end, he supposes it all comes down to whose side each of them chose. And even not doing anything is still a choice.)

“Besides,” Ichigo grounds out. “You said yourself the Gotei’s losing. Why would I need you?”

This. This, Kisuke can answer.

“The Gotei is losing,” He agrees. “And give it a year or two more, and you’ll have Soul Society on its knees and a kingdom to your name.” He actually has to suppress a smile at the face Ichigo can’t seem to help making, because it’s such an _Ichigo_ reaction to have. “But in the meantime, you’re losing people.” Ichigo stiffens. Kisuke adds, “So are they, but they don’t care. You do.”

“And I suppose you can magically fix that?” Ichigo growls.

“I won’t be able to prevent everyone on your side from being killed,” Kisuke concedes. “This is war, and you know as well as I do that war means death.” Ichigo’s expression tightens but he doesn’t refute it. Kisuke nods. “But what you’re fighting for is important enough to you to risk it anyway, so the least I can do is make it a little easier. Your biggest problem right now is the Second Division. Onmitsukidou.” He holds Ichigo’s gaze, steady and certain. “Their agents are still picking yours off in the dark. They’re the one branch of the military that you don’t have people in, and so you don’t know how they work. But I do. I _was_ Second Division. Yoruichi-san’s right hand. There’s nothing that the Onmitsukidou can throw at you that I won’t see coming. I’ve also planted listening devices in every corner of their headquarters, and-” His hands curl together in his lap. “-once you breach Seireitei’s walls, should it become necessary, I know how to bypass the security measures of every Noble House property, there isn’t any information stored on any computer in Seireitei that I cannot hack, and I know enough about the defenses guarding Central 46’s Seijōtōkyorin that I can teach you how to break through them.”

Ichigo remains motionless for a long minute, only staring down at Kisuke, expression blank and giving nothing away. Kisuke wonders if he taught Ichigo that, or if it was just… time.

“Alright,” Ichigo says at last, voice pitched dangerously soft, Hollow back in full force behind his eyes. “You’ve told me why my side should accept you. We’ll benefit from your knowledge and your skills, and I won’t deny you’d make a useful strategist.” He smiles, and it still isn’t anywhere near approaching anything like friendly. “Now tell me why _I_ should accept you.”

_Tell my how I can trust you again._

Kisuke watches him for a moment, forces himself to take in the scar he put there himself, however unintentionally, and then he slides a hand into one of his sleeves, and while Ichigo shifts his weight more evenly between his feet, he makes no move to stop him.

Kisuke withdraws a very distinct stinger-like blade, dried blood still staining the gold like rust, and Ichigo freezes. Kisuke simply lays it at the man’s feet like an offering before sitting back on his heels again.

“She isn’t dead,” Kisuke confesses blandly. “At least not when I left her.”

Ichigo looks from Kisuke to what’s left of Suzumebachi and back to Kisuke. “...What did you do?”

Kisuke shrugs carelessly. “You know what Benihime is capable of. I simply restructured her a little.” Ichigo doesn’t blink. Kisuke looks back serenely. “I turned most of her inside-out. And then kept her organs functioning. It was my first time attempting such… extensive surgery though, so I can’t say for certain how long it will hold.”

Well, that’s not quite true. He has dozens upon dozens of not-so-legal experiments under his belt, enough to have refined his technique to perfection. But it _is_ true that this was his first time attempting it on a Shinigami captain with enough reiatsu for her body to put up an automatic struggle. It was fortunate Kisuke had had the foresight to lure her down into one of the underground bunkers first. Her screaming would’ve brought every Shinigami in the vicinity running. At least until Kisuke removed her vocal chords anyway.

“Either way,” He concludes. “I think you’ll find the Second Division easier to contend with now that their captain has been taken out of the equation.”

He stops, with nothing more to offer, and for the longest moment, Ichigo is still enough to resemble a statue. And then, slowly, he crouches down again until he’s eye-level with Kisuke once more. His fingers brushing over the broken Zanpakutou before his gaze finds Kisuke’s again. “It’s not enough.”

Kisuke inclines his head. “No. It’s not Yoruichi-san.”

Ichigo… sighs. It’s a short gust of a breath that’s simultaneously irritated and tired all at once. “For god’s sakes, Kisuke, I don’t _want_ Yoruichi-san’s fucking head. I couldn’t care less about killing _her_ unless she kills one of mine. What I care about-” He glares, and even now the bitterness doesn’t quite hide the hurt. “-is her jumping on the Shinigami’s genocidal bandwagon because I sure as fuck don’t see her knocking on our door. And when that happens, you’ll be the easiest way for them to get to us. And I don’t blame you, Kisuke.” He scoffs, and it’s more resigned than anything else now. “I don’t, because she’s your friend, and you know I can understand that, but I definitely don’t trust you either, and that doesn’t change just because you gutted Suì-Fēng for me.”

Kisuke closes his eyes briefly, but it isn’t as if he expected anything less. When he opens his eyes again, he meets the challenge in Ichigo’s gaze squarely. “Then let me prove it to you. Put me to work. Wherever you need me, whatever you need me for, I’ll do it. And by the end of this, when this war is over, if you still feel the same way, then my life will still be yours to do with as you please.” He looks again at the scar; he can’t _not_. “I owe you, whether you think I do or not, and not just because I wounded you.”

_You trusted me, and I betrayed that trust even if I didn’t mean to._

“And this is where I wish to be. If that day had gone any other way,” Under the cover of his sleeves, his nails dig into his palms. “I would’ve left with you.”

Ichigo stares at him. “Even if Yoruichi-san had stayed behind?”

It’s Kisuke’s turn to sigh, arms spreading almost helplessly. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

Ichigo studies him through narrowed eyes for a moment longer. “Even if it means fighting people you won’t want to fight?”

“Yoruichi-san doesn’t believe in the government’s objectives,” Kisuke asserts calmly. “She wouldn’t fight us for them. She’s just staying for her clan.” He pauses, and then continues in determinedly impassive tones, “But she might fight us for Suì-Fēng, in which case-- I knew the potential consequences when I confronted Suì-Fēng. I knew what position that might put me in with Yoruichi-san, and I accepted it, so if it comes to it, then I will deal with her. I give you my word, even if that means little to you right now.”

Ichigo seems to mull all of that over, and then he makes a frustrated noise at the back of his throat before scrubbing a hand over his face. When he looks at Kisuke again, the anger’s mostly been doused, at least for the moment, and only a cold sort of resolve is left in its place. “You realize - now that you’re here - if you betray any of us, I will personally kill you myself, right?”

Kisuke inhales. “I assumed as much, yes.”

“And I really really hope you’re not stupid enough to think I can’t do it just because we have history.”

“I would think our history would help with that actually.”

Ichigo doesn’t say anything in direct response to that but he does shoot Kisuke a look withering enough to make a lesser man cringe. Kisuke only dips his head in a rueful sort of acknowledgement.

“I don’t believe in the government’s objectives either,” He says instead. “If you need a reason, other than the one I gave you, then let that be it. I hid the Visored from the Shinigami for a century. I housed mod-souls in my shop.” He hesitates a beat. “And I have always supported you, even after Aizen-san was defeated. I could never agree with the Gotei’s extermination orders.”

It’s a little, Kisuke thinks, like staring at a sheet of ice. Sometime over the past two years, Ichigo’s crafted a poker face that could rival Kisuke’s, and while he obviously doesn’t use it all the time, he uses it enough that Kisuke mourns what was lost, just a little. Ichigo was never overly emotional, most of the time, but he expressed himself freely when the situation inspired it, and either Kisuke’s out of practice with reading the young man or Ichigo’s simply gotten much better at hiding what he’s thinking.

Perhaps it’s a bit of both.

For now, Ichigo scrutinizes him like he wants to crack Kisuke open just to see how many untruths paper his insides. The answer of course is many, but in this one moment at least, there are none.

Ichigo values honesty. And once, years ago, even if it wasn’t ever spoken out loud between them, Kisuke thinks he made a promise all the same.

At last, Ichigo blinks, sighs again, and rises to his feet, swiping up Suì-Fēng’s blade in the process and leaving Kisuke blinking up at him.

“Get up,” He orders, and Kisuke doesn’t dither, quickly rising as well even as Ichigo continues, louder, “And stop lurking! How many times do I have to tell you people that I don’t need bodyguards?”

A pause, and then, out of the shadow that the sofa casts, a familiar one-armed figure steps out, and instinctively, Kisuke tenses.

He never even sensed another presence, but then he supposes that shouldn’t come as such a surprise. The entire Gotei never realized the Wandenreich was living right in the shadows around them either. Kisuke had thought that that was something Yhwach sustained himself and hid his army in, but perhaps they could all do it to some degree, or maybe Ichigo’s the one maintaining the ability now.

 _Sternritter H_ , Kisuke recalls. _Bazz-B. No one ever did find his body._

The Quincy in question still has that shock of pink hair, although he’s no longer in the signature white uniform that all of Yhwach’s army wore and instead sports a comfortable shirt - one sleeve pinned back - and jeans that would’ve been more at home in the Human world. The former Sternritter cocks an easy grin at Kisuke, one that goes nowhere near his eyes, especially when compared to the way he looks at Ichigo next.

“No can do, Boss,” Bazz-B drawls unrepentantly. “What kind of minions would we be if we let you get offed on our watch? Besides,” His gaze slices over to Kisuke again. “It’s not just me. You think the little Ice Queen would’ve left you alone in a room with this guy just like that if half the building wasn’t already parked one hallway down from your door?”

Ichigo closes his eyes and looks like he’s experiencing a migraine right then and there. “He doesn’t even have access to ninety percent of his reiatsu. Don’t you people have better things to do?”

“Than making sure the man who almost killed you doesn’t get another chance at it?” Bazz-B’s snort is apparently answer enough because all he says next is, “You want me to escort him to the dungeons?”

Ichigo half-turns, and Kisuke finds himself pinned under piercing gold eyes once more.

“Give him a guest room,” Ichigo says at last, turning away again. “And give him back his Zanpakutou. The reiatsu-binders stay.”

He pauses, back to Kisuke, so whatever expression he’s wearing - if he’s wearing one at all - is hidden from Kisuke completely. Bazz-B must see something though because he sighs and nods and gestures to Kisuke as he heads for the door. “I respectfully disagree with this very insane plan, but it’s your call, Boss. I’ll get him set up.”

Ichigo nods, and then tacks on gruffly, “Nobody touches him.”

The Quincy scoffs. “Yeah, you try telling that to Hirako.”

“Shinji’s not here.”

“He’s definitely en route.”

“Then I’ll talk to him when he gets here. But in the meantime,” Ichigo glances over one last time as he takes a seat on the couch again. “Nobody touches him. I don’t put up with shit like that here.”

Bazz-B rolls his eyes but nods again. “Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I’ll spread the word.” And then, sharper, to Kisuke, “Come on, asshole. You’re in my care for the foreseeable future, and I’m not letting you outta my fucking sight.”

Kisuke acquiesces without protest, and he lets himself exhale a breath that feels a lot like cautious relief.

Ichigo is giving him a chance, and it looks like he’s even willing to make sure Kisuke doesn’t accidentally on purpose get murdered by one of Ichigo’s fiercely loyal friends. That’s… honestly more than Kisuke expected. He could probably have fended for himself even without access to most of his reiatsu, especially if he’s allowed to keep Benihime with him.

But Ichigo is extending his protection too, in addition to his hospitality, and even if that’s just his honour rearing its head, it’s still heartening to be on the receiving end of it again.

He follows the Quincy to the door, only to pause there and look back, just once. Ichigo has Suì-Fēng’s Zanpakutou in his hands, spinning it idly between his fingers, and for all intents and purposes, he looks as if he’s already dismissed Kisuke’s presence in the room.

But the line of his shoulders still looks stiff, and when Kisuke turns back, even his hands stop moving.

“Ichigo. Thank-”

“ _Don’t._ ”

Kisuke falters, then nods and says nothing more. He bows instead, and this at least is familiar, if not entirely in the same way-- Kisuke’s machinations was at least half the reason Ichigo became what he was - Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy, rebel, hero, enemy - and Kisuke may have steered him into a good portion of the battles he fought in, all in the name of ultimately taking down Aizen; but how he fought and what he fought for and all the people he saved in-between have ever been Ichigo’s decisions alone, and Kisuke has followed in his wake from nearly the very beginning, swept along just as helplessly and just as willingly as all those touched by the force of Ichigo’s resolve.

So this is something he knows, and even with the rift between them still, it’s nevertheless a little like coming home, and that’s already more than Kisuke had hoped for when he finally cut the last of his ties with the Shinigami of Soul Society.

He straightens, turns, and exits the room with the weight of Ichigo’s gaze on his back.

If he stands a little taller and walks a little lighter than when he first came in, well, nobody else needs to know why.

 

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Yamamoto isn't dead. He lost against Yhwach but survived.
> 
> 2) "At some point, [the Soul King] also had restraints placed on his powers by the Shinigami."  
> \- Soul Society collectively decided that if Ichigo was powerful enough to defeat Yhwach when even Yamamoto couldn't, his only two options were to die or be bound to the throne and take over the deceased Soul King's job until his mind and body literally cannot take it anymore just like the previous Soul King. Either way, they didn't want him running around with that much power at his disposal. Ichigo said fuck that and decided it was about time someone did something about the shit the Shinigami likes to pull.
> 
> 3) You can assume Ichigo and Kisuke were on the brink of _something_ before shit went down. I'm not tagging this preslash or UraIchi though cuz technically in this moment, they're not at that point anymore/yet again.
> 
> 4) I swear I wrote this just for that one line from Kisuke but omg I feel like this is basically Blood For Blood all over again ugh -_-
> 
> 5) WHY DID BAZZ SHOW UP IDK JUST GO WITH IT.


End file.
